


Bed of Lies

by Thysanotus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ficlet, Post War, Romance, The Quidditch Pitch: Eternity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-03
Updated: 2006-01-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 07:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10804782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thysanotus/pseuds/Thysanotus
Summary: A rough kind of sequel to "If Only"





	Bed of Lies

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes: Unashamed angst, fluff. Beware! Here be sappy sugary fic!  


* * *

“Harry.”  
  
At the sound of his name, he turned. “What?” he snapped. “It’s clear you don’t want me here, so I’m leaving. Isn’t that what you asked for?”  
  
The clear green eyes were blurred with hurt and confusion. Snape sighed. He’d truly not meant for it to go so far.  
  
“I don't think that I can take another empty moment. Don't think that I can fake another hollow smile. It's not enough just to be sorry. Enough Sev,” he said, cutting the older man off. “I can’t put up with this pain any more. You keep saying that you don’t mean to hurt me. Well, I don't think that I can take another talk about it.” The lithe young man moved into the hallway and stopped, as his vision blurred with tears. Fuck, it hurt to be leaving. He was leaving the one person who’d ever cared enough about him to make him the centre of their universe.  
  
Of course, he may have been the most important person in Sev’s life – or so Sev claimed – but that didn’t mean Sev told him anything. He didn’t want to be the one who turned the whole thing over. He didn’t want to be somewhere where he just didn’t belong. That was a fact Snape seemed to impress on him at every opportunity, with the green and silver theme throughout the rooms, the endless private owls and floos he received. None of which he would share with Harry. It wasn’t enough that Snape was continually apologizing.  
  
Harry was deeply wounded. To him, love meant you shared everything you were, your complete essence, the depths of yourself that frightened even you. You didn’t put up these walls; prevent the other person from getting close.  
  
He sank down on the cool floor.  
  
Everything had gone wrong tonight. He’d snuck into Sev’s quarters earlier, arranging a romantic bath for Sev. But Sev had come back to his rooms in a foul mood, and when Harry had tried to talk, he’d been accused…  
Sev had accused Harry of only fucking him to assuage his guilt about the way James had treated Sev.  
  
Well. That had led on to a full-scale argument, culminating in Harry screaming at Sev, “No! I would not sleep in your bed of lies. I'm marking it down to learning,” followed by his mature finish to the argument, storming out and slamming the door.  
  
He’d just come back to apologise, but look where it had got him. He was just being melodramatic. Merlin, Potter, get a fucking grip, he thought. Look at you. Crying over the greasy old git. Sighing, he got up and returned to his quarters where he began to pack.  
  
~~~~~  
  
In his rooms, Snape paced. It was a familiar movement, as the wear of the carpet testified. He couldn’t let Harry go. But he’d gone too far this time. He stared into the bottle of firewhiskey in his hand. The pain in the obsidian eyes was enough to make his reflection stretch a hand towards him. He shook his head. That was the last straw. His colleagues had been tiptoeing around him all week, and now his own reflection was offering him comfort? He had to see Harry.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Snape rapped on the apartment door, before squinting at the crumpled paper in his hand. Merlin, these pants were tight. He hoped Albus had been right when he assured him that the leather pants were the height of style among Muggle men.  
  
The door opened a crack, and Snape saw the familiar features for a second as the door slammed… But it didn’t. Snape had his foot wedged firmly between the door and the frame.  
  
“Are you going to let me in boy, or do I need to hex you into the middle of next week?” he hissed.  
  
“I don’t want to see you. And don’t think that those ridiculous pants will help,” the boy said flatly.  
  
Snape sighed and pushed at the door. Harry was no match for the older man, and stumbled back from the door as Snape entered the rooms that had been his home for the last week.  
  
“I expected better of you Mr Potter. I didn’t think you’d run away. Don't you know I felt the darkness closing in? I tried to be more than me. I gave till it all went away. But it wasn’t enough for you. It doesn’t seem that anything ever is. Just like me you got needs, they're only a whisper away. But you always want your needs fulfilled. Instant gratification.” Snape allowed the corner of his mouth to twist into a sneer. “That’s something that’s not always possible. We find then that we’ve only surrendered to the worst part of these winters we've made.”  
  
Harry swallowed. His mouth was suddenly dry. He’d read the owls from Albus, about Snape. How he was so distracted he hadn’t noticed that his first years blow a gaping hole in the classroom, how his fifth years had given each other Veritaserum and spent an afternoon quizzing each other about their sexual history. His heart swelled with love for the one man who’d loved him back, underneath the snarkiness and cynicism. It didn’t matter Snape couldn’t share himself. Harry was happy with whatever he could get  
  
He opened his mouth. “I am all that I'll ever be. When you - lay your hands over me, but don't go weak on me now. I know that it's weak, but Merlin help me, I need this.”  
  
Snape moved to the chair and enfolded Harry in the safety and security of his embrace. “I promise you that I will always be here for you boy,” he whispered into the boy’s messy hair. “Always.”


End file.
